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Newly Adopted Standards During the Pandemic
Virginia becomes the first state in the nation to adopt new workplace safety standards protecting employees during the pandemic. The Virginia Safety and Health Codes Board has approved these standards which apply to all businesses and take effect the last week of July 2020. The adopted workplace standards will be effective for six months or until the State of Emergency ends.
The newly adopted standards require all employers to:
- Regularly clean high-contact surfaces, bathrooms and shared tools or equipment.
- Provide easy and frequent access for employees to wash their hands or use hand sanitizer.
- Mandate social distancing measures and face coverings for employees in customer-facing positions.
- Mandate face coverings for employees when social distancing is not possible.
- Assess work spaces for potential hazards that can cause exposure to COVID-19
- Put in place an Infectious Disease Preparedness and Response Plan for high-risk employees.
- Notify all employees within 24 hours if a coworker tests positive for the virus.
- According to the state standards, employees who are known or suspected to be positive for COVID-19 cannot return to work for at least 10 days or until they receive two consecutive negative test.
Employers are also required to:
- Provide COVID-19 training of all employees within 30 days (except for low-hazard places of employment)
- Prepare infectious disease preparedness and response plans within 60 days (except for employers with 10 or less employees)
- Post or present agency-prepared COVID-19 information to all employees
- Provide flexible sick leave policies, telework and staggered shifts when feasible
- Notify the Virginia Department of Health of positive COVID-19 tests
- Notify VOSH of three or more positive COVID-19 tests within a two-week period
The new regs also require building and facility owners to report positive COVID-19 tests to the employer’s tenants. There are additional regulations for jobs deemed as medium, high or very high risk. Employers must classify whether jobs are “very high,” “high,” “medium” and “lower” risk based on potential exposure to the virus. High and very high-risk jobs include health care workers and first responders. Medium risk jobs are workers in settings such as restaurants, grocery and retail stores, correctional facilities, factories and plants.
The new regulations also protect employees who raise reasonable concerns about infection control to print, online, social or other media. The maximum penalty for violating the rules is set at $13,000, but “willful and repeat” violations could result in fines up to $130,000.
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